The Many Sides to Draco Malfoy
by obscureshadows
Summary: Astoria Greengrass can't help it. She is just too curious for her own good. She is determined to figure Draco Malfoy out. How many sides are there to him, exactly?


Draco Malfoy was a good actor. Exceptional. Always putting on a show for whomever wished to bathe in his excellence. His rude, cold demeanor was nothing but an act. The world's a stage, and Draco Malfoy was the star. The handsome antagonist. Not many people could see through this convincing facade. It would be quite a feat. Astoria Greengrass always thought she was unusually perceptive. She observed, and was quite good at noticing things that others would miss. She found it peculiar that Draco Malfoy always seemed to by picking fun at someone, or gloating about the Dark Lord. The extent to which he carried this stance was almost... fake.

Fake. What an interesting work to describe a person. A false persona, hiding the true self underneath a web of lies. So what was Malfoy trying to hide? Astoria was curious, she couldn't help herself. Just as Weasley's were known for their unfaltering stubbornness, Greengrass's had a particular aptitude for unfailing curiosity. This trait often got them into trouble, but it was also very useful. Astoria was determined. She would befriend this seemingly cold hearted boy. As a fourth year, she couldn't confront him during class, since he was a sixth year, so instead she confronted him for the first time in the Slytherin Common Room, at around midnight.

"Er, hello," Astoria stuttered.

Draco snapped around in surprise, eyes widening at the prospect of an intruder. When he saw it was only a petite dark haired girl, he sighed. "I suppose you want my autograph, or perhaps you were dared to snog me goodnight?" he drawled rather arrogantly, one of those infamous smirks teasing his face. This, Astoria knew, was yet another one of his acts.

"Um, not exactly," she muttered.

"Then what do you want?" he asked, turning back around. At a closer view, Tori noticed that he was tearing up a newspaper into tiny bits, and throwing them in the fire. The headlines, barely noticeable, read: "Draco Malfoy: Death Eater?". Underneath the title, was a picture of a group of Death Eaters. And standing right smack in the center was the one and only, Draco Malfoy. His expression was confident, but was on the brink of looking afraid. His parents stood on either side of him, looking like they wanted to shelter him.

"You're a Death Eater?" she asked in honest surprise.

Realizing she must have seen the picture, he simply threw the entire article in the fire, causing sparks to shoot up.

"Why do you care?" he asked, almost afraid of her answer. He clearly wasn't used to people worrying about him, or asking after him.

Astoria didn't reply, but instead joined Draco on the sofa.

Draco turned to her and stared at her for a long time. "You are Astoria. Astoria Greengrass, right? Little sister of Daphne?"

Astoria silently nodded, slightly frowning. She loathed being referred to as Daphne's little sister. She was nothing like the rest of her pure blood family, and hated being categorized as one of them.

As if reading her mind, Draco apologized, "Sorry, you probably don't like that. Being judged by your family and their beliefs and actions. I know how you feel."

When she remained silent, Draco stayed quiet, shifting uncertainly on the sofa. "Uh, yeah, I am a Death Eater." Under his breath he murmured, "Worst decision of my life."

Astoria was unsure about what exactly to say. This conversation was turning out slightly one sided. So instead of asking a normal question, she asked him why he became a Death Eater.

Draco was silent for a prolonged period, till he sighed, shrugged in the most un-Malfoy like way, and stood up.

"Sometimes, Astoria, there are things you do to protect yourself. Things you could've changed, but chose not to. Things that aren't in your control. It's called life, and we all have to accept it. We are only a puppet of society, and the puppetmaster is whomever you choose to follow. There is no other way to get out. We are imprisoned here, and believe me, if there was a way to escape, I would have left a long time ago." With that philosophical thought, Draco retreated up the stairs to bed.

Astoria was thoroughly perplexed. Could it be that Draco led his life by the command of someone else, not by choice? The thought of living such a restrained life was absolutely appalling, but it was highly probable. The Dark Lord wasn't so feared for no reason. He was absolutely ruthless. Draco may seem to be evil, but on the inside, she could tell that he wouldn't decide to become a Death Eater by choice. There was an ulterior motive. Was his life being threatened? She wouldn't put it past the Dark Lord to do something like that.

These scattered, unclear ideas surrounded her peripheral thoughts for weeks, trying to make sense of themselves, meeting with failure. Draco Malfoy was a hard person to figure out.

Astoria had temporarily forgotten her Malfoy dilemma for a few weeks, until she noticed him in the corner of one of the many abandoned hallways, during one of her trademark midnight walks. That was when she saw him again. The great Draco Malfoy was doing to unimaginable. The strong, respectable, pure-blood Malfoy was crying. Unfathomable. It was quite a sight to see. When he looked up, she was greeted with the sight of a tear stained, hopeless face.

Astoria may not have understood Draco Malfoy completely, but in that moment, it was quite clear. He needed a friend. She sat down on the cold, dusty stone ground next to him, and they sat in companionable silence, him softly crying, and her, patting his arm awkwardly.

"What happened?" Astoria questioned softly. She was worried, and as much as it didn't seem true, Draco Malfoy was human, and had his vulnerable moments, and she wanted to help.

"Dumbledore..."

Suddenly especially worried, as Tori had a soft spot for their wise headmaster, she pushed Draco for more details. "What happened to Dumbledore? Is he alright?"

Draco shook his head dejectedly. "He's gone." Astoria's breath caught in her throat. It was suddenly hard to breathe, and the air seemed to become thick. Dumbledore was... Dead. That couldn't be true! Through this internal denial she was going through, she didn't stop comforting Draco. It seemed that he was deeply affected too. It seemed that there was more to it, but Astoria didn't push. It didn't seem that Draco would care about Dumbledore's well being, but there was clearly a side to him that missed their warm hearted headmaster.

Then the moment of truth came.

"I almost killed him," Draco almost inaudibly whispered. Astoria drew her hand back from Draco's shoulder abruptly. He continued,"but I didn't, because I am a coward. I am nothing but a useless coward. I really can't do anything right, can I?"

At this, Astoria resumed her comforting stance, placing her hand on Draco's shoulder once again. "Are you okay?" she asked uncertainly. What a stupid question, of course he wasn't okay.

"I'm such a failure. Snape had to kill Dumbledore because I couldn't. The Dark Lord will kill me. He will kill my family. I have let him down." Draco swallowed hard. Tears welled up in his eyes again.

Instead of asking questions to satisfy her thirst for answers, Astoria engulfed Draco in a warm hug. She whispered words of encouragement to him, then held his hand, and led him to the dormitories.

Astoria Greengrass wasn't sure how many sides there were to the great Draco Malfoy. She had seen his contemplative side, his angry, remorseful side, and of course, the most well known, his rude, cold, hateful side. How many more were there?

It was two years after she graduated, the war had been over for a few years, and all the pure blood family's names had been disgraced. She had always separated herself from her family, so she wasn't as affected, but she often wondered about Draco Malfoy.

Since that night in the corridor, when he told her about Dumbledore, she had encountered him in many different situations. Each time, a different side of him had been revealed. There were many layers to Draco Malfoy, he was quite a complex creature. She doubted she would ever run into him after the war. They had gone their separate ways, and he probably didn't even remember her. The girl that would listen to him.

It was a cold, snowy day, and Astoria was cold. She hugged her jacket closer to her, and continued contemplating deeply on a court case she had been assigned at the Wizengamot. Walking down Diagon Alley, deep in thought, she accidently bumped into a familiar face, one she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Draco."

"Astoria, how nice to see you here." Astoria was taken aback by his cheerful tone. The cold Draco seemed to have vanished. Instead of a smirk, he actually smiled at her, a true smile. So he did remember her.

"Nice to see you too, Draco. It's been a long time."

"I know..." he trailed off, as if remembering something.

"Well-"

"Are you busy right now?" he interrupted, looking as if he wanted to say something more.

"Um, me? No, not especially."

"Do you want to go to The Three Broomsticks? You know, to catch up and talk."

Astoria was appropriately confused. Besides their late night heart-to-hearts at Hogwarts, they had never really socialized. "Sure," she responded, not wanting to sound rude.

"Great!" he exclaimed happily.

Once seated inside, he asked her about her job, and her social life (whether she had a boyfriend), and everything else there was to possibly talk about. Her favorite candy, how her grandmother was feeling, which Quidditch team she was rooting for, and whether or not she ever got to go to Canada like she had always wanted to.

She, in response, asked about his life, if he managed to escape the hate, and break free from society's prejudice bonds. He certainly seemed a lot happier than when he left Hogwarts. They got along surprisingly well. Drink after drink, they spent their afternoon talking to one another, keeping each other company. It seemed that Draco Malfoy had a sweet and friendly side to him as well. Who would've guessed?

Two hours later, slightly drunk, and giggling too much, Draco and Astoria exited the pub. "I never properly thanked you for all that you did for me at Hogwarts. It helped me a lot. It may not have showed then, but I really do appreciate it," he told her.

"It was my pleasure. To be completely honest, I only confronted you at first because you made me curious. I couldn't figure you out, Draco Malfoy."

"Have you figured me out now, Astoria Greengrass?" he replied, his face startlingly close to hers. She could see his breath forming clouds of condensation in her face.

"Nope," Astoria replied breathily. One thing hadn't changed since Hogwarts - Draco Malfoy was still breathtakingly handsome. His white blonde hair shined in the dimming sunlight, his sharp features pronounced, his perfect smile displaying his beautiful teeth, and gorgeous gray eyes that seemed to search your soul...

"Good," he said, inching closer. "I enjoy confusing you, Astoria." With that, he leant in closer, and kissed her, oh so lightly on the lips, then drew back. He gave her a small smile, squeezed her hand, then let go, and walked away into the twilight.

Astoria touched her lips, then smiled. She never would figure out Draco Malfoy, would she?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it all belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling**


End file.
